Introduction
Our visit to Saint Barthlélemy was a one-day interlude during our stay on St. Martin and was, more or less, just one of those things that needed doing. Although we were well entertained and had more than enough fun activities to pursue on St. Martin, we couldn't resist the temptation to take in one more island, especially one so close and of such note as St. Barths.
Preparations began a few days beforehand when Ed visited the
Air Caraïbes counter at the Esperance Airport. It was not exactly an auspicious
start since the agent refused to sell tickets before being able to see our
passports. So there was nothing to do but make a trip back to the hotel,
retrieve the passports and then journey once more to the airport.
The Trip
The morning of our departure we arrived early hoping to avoid the crowds at check in (a cognoscenti joke), dealt with the ticket formalities and then excused ourselves to the snack bar in front of the terminal. Sensing anxiety about the impending flight in a small prop plane, we fortified ourselves with a Carib which we think to be much better than Xanax. At the requested assembly time we presented ourselves in the departure lounge. Well, OK, "lounge" is stretching it a bit. How about the "barrack style room with hard benches adjacent to the runway"?
After a bit of a wait our plane drew nearby to take on
passengers and we found ourselves wishing we had downed one more Carib
each. It was a single prop, 9 passenger affair sporting bright colors, but
with a rather spartan interior invoking images of a no frills military
transport. Once we had securely strapped 
ourselves in place and
politely smiled at the French pilot's short announcement, of which we didn't
understand a word, the adventure began with a smooth liftoff. We had great
views and recognized quite a few features of St. Martin as the plane gained
altitude and banked away toward St. Barths. The 10 minute flight,
thankfully, was uneventful as we enjoyed watching the shades of turquoise blue
and emerald green water pass beneath us.
Approaching St. Barths the details of the island became
progressively more obvious as we peered out the windows searching for a first
glimpse of the infamous runway at the Aeroport Gustave III. Oh my god -
there it was - a tiny bit of pavement 
sandwiched between a high ridge on one end
and the Baie de St. John on the other. The plane slowed, as if it were
taking a big breath, banked slightly up to the left and then slipped down and to
the right. Following that unsettling move, the pilot proceeded to push the
nose over and began what can only be described as a "dive" down the
face of the mountain ridge toward the runway. Hmmm - let's think about
what's wrong with this picture. We're approaching the runway in a dive,
and not with the nose up and throttle back as one is conditioned normally to
expect for a landing. In those surreal moments as sharp gusts of wind
pushed us from side to side a few profound thoughts and words ensued, like
"Ohhh sh...ttt!!!" However, as quickly as it began, it was over
with the pilot pulling the nose up at what seemed the last possible moment and
to our amazement (and relief) only consumed about half of the available
runway. With the kind help of several passengers we finally managed to pry
Sandra's fingers lose from the steel frame separating her from the pilot's seat
and made our exit onto the runway, which still seemed quite short even at ground
level.
The airport terminal was a very nice, modern facility and
Immigration was a breeze. Outside we took the first taxi in line and
headed into Gustavia. As we circled down the mountain and the town with
its harbor first appeared, we were delighted with the lovely view. The
driver deposited us at the Quai de Gaulle and after soaking in the beautiful
sight of boats anchored everywhere, we set about exploring the shops along Quai
de la Republique. Never have we seen so many haute
boutiques in such close proximity to one another. They literally lined the
main thoroughfare and the terraces above. This is definitely platinum card
territory.
After a good bit of gawking and shopping we found ourselves at
Le Select on Rue de la 
France, the home of "Cheeseburger in
Paradise." Allegedly, this is the genesis of Jimmy Buffet's song, but
of course that distinction is also claimed by establishments in Key West, the
Bahamas and probably others. Now surely you don't think for one moment we
would do the touristy sort of thing by indulging in such shameless
commercialization? Of course we did! How were the cheeseburgers in
paradise? We'll give them a solid "OK", though they were
definitely on the small side. However, they certainly were not in the same
gourmet league as those at SunSet Beach Bar in Sint Maarten. We will say
Le Select is a good vantage point for people watching and also observing the
array of motorbikes, mini-mokes and Smart cars zipping by in a state of more or
less controlled chaos.
Lunch was followed by more shopping and more shopping. Unfortunately, Sandra never found the perfect black Hermes or similar bag for which she was searching. Fortunately, she deserves especially high marks for the fortitude shown in resisting the siren call of several jewelry stores which obviously had expensive trinkets awaiting her adoption.
At the corner of Rue du Bord de Mer and Rue du Centenaire we
found a nice restaurant bar overlooking the harbor and indulged ourselves with a
few drinks while we contemplated the great variety of boats bobbing on the water
a short distance away. We were particularly intrigued by two of the
largest ones which shared the same name "Gallant Lady" from Dover,
Delaware. Not being nautical sorts, we always thought boats were uniquely
named, but in this case there was not even a distinguishing "I" or
"II." But, whatever, the Gallant Ladies were most impressive.
Having paid tribute, literally and figuratively, to Gustavia and its shops, we embarked on locating transportation to provide a tour of the island. Ooops - it was then 1:00pm and the shops were shuttering and the traffic dwindled. Nowhere was a taxi to be seen including the official pickup point near the Captainerie. Not to be daunted, Ed parked Sandra and began wandering along Quai de la Republique nearly to the edge of town before boldly stepping into the street and stopping the only vehicle which appeared to offer public conveyance. After negotiating terms, Ed made his way back with his prize to collect Sandra. Shopping and other paraphernalia were loaded and away we went to take in the sights of St. Barths.
It was a great tour and the driver did a thorough job of
crisscrossing the island and regaling us with splendid sights. Most of the
roads were made of a textured surface concrete and were quite narrow with no
guard rails between us and harrowing cliff sides only inches away. We thought the way the narrow roads sharply peaked at mountain crests presented the
ultimate opportunity for games of "chicken." We were very
impressed with everything we saw including almost the complete absence of any
debris or substandard housing. In fact, the whole island leaves one with
the impression of a grand country club. As our driver intuitively
remarked, "No riff raff here - they can't afford it." Truly
fascinating were the huge houses built literally high up on cliff sides
overlooking the ocean below. We saw no large expanses of beach per se,
but many coves with intimate sandy playgrounds snuggled amongst the rocky
cliffs.
Our driver somehow surmised the perfect destination near
Gustavia to end our tour - the Dō Brazil Bar at Shell Beach. What a wonderful
place! The bar is beautifully 
decorated with a prominent reggae theme and
the view was simply gorgeous. Floating on the horizon were
the islands of St. Eustatius and Saba. The staff at Dō Brazil were
extremely friendly and took excellent care of us, including having a taxi ready
for our departure at precisely the time we requested. Needless to say,
such excellent service resulted in a most generous tip! Thank you Gerome.
We reluctantly left the serenity and beauty of Shell Beach, but our thoughts were soon engrossed with the nonstop commentary provided by our taxi driver who indicated he was 10th generation on St. Barths and a cousin of the mayor of Gustavia. He certainly had an outstanding vehicle - very new and superbly air conditioned!
With more Carib courage developed in the airport terminal bar
we were prepared for the return journey. We recognized the plane and pilot
as being the same ones that had delivered us to St. Barths. We did fail to
mention in our earlier description of the landing that the runway has another
peculiar attribute - it slants downward in a pronounced way toward the Baie de
St. John with only a few yards of sand separating the two. That 
aspect
didn't seem particularly remarkable as far as the landing was concerned, but
sitting on the plane ready for takeoff it took on a new perspective since our
attention was locked on the sight of the runway sloping down toward the
water. Surprisingly, the pilot needed very little of the runway before
lifting off and then banking sharply up and around to the left toward the ocean
(a nice maneuver for missing the rather large mountain straight ahead beyond the
narrow stretch of bay). Skirting a few thunderheads along the way, we were
soon back on St. Martin and our home away from home.
Conclusion
In spite of the only slightly embellished commentary we shared about the flights, we would not hesitate to use that mode of transportation again. It certainly was a memorable experience - the sort of thing of which adventures are made.
We must say we did find St. Barths to be very lovely, decidedly upscale and most definitely worthy of more exploration than that afforded by a one-day excursion. We do trust that if you visit, even for a short diversion, your experience will be as highly enjoyable as indeed ours was.
Best regards,
Ed and Sandra
EandS@carolina.rr.com
Pictures
There are additional pictures from our St. Barths trip at Photos
More Information
We found the following site to be a useful source of information about St. Barths: http://www.st-barths.com/homeeng.html
